A Stubborn Friendship
by SunshineandSparkles
Summary: Marsha isn't the one that the team agreed they were in search for but Jack takes it upon himself to get Marsha to join the ranks to use her smarts in investigative writing to make the Torchwood team stronger. Jack is forced to consider some of his recent actions. Friendships are made, bones are broken as the team fights to keep the human race safe.
1. Recruitment

**A/N:** This is the first time I've attempted writing anything related to Torchwood, so there's bound to be some inaccuracies but I've tried my best. This story takes place after season four, Rex joins Gwen and Jack to rebuild Torchwood. The time of this story is about a year or two after season four ends so the team has only just completely restored the hub to full operation. However, they have been operating from an abandoned building until the hub was ready to become command center again. Previous to the start of this story, Torchwood investigates the mysterious disappearance of Marcie Samson when a strange slime was found in her apartment. The only one who had any form of information about Marcie and her life was Marsha Benning, Marcie's neighbor and friend. The rest of the case will eventually be explained through outbursts of the team, thoughts and maybe a flashback.

This chapter was not beta read, I am human and therefore there are mostly likely several mistakes I've made and somehow overlooked them in my editing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Torchwood nor am I affiliated in any way with Torchwood or BBC. I am making no profit from this work; this is merely my attempt at using my imagination to creatively entertain.

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**Recruitment**

It was three weeks after Marsha first met the three members of Torchwood and their leader still wouldn't leave her alone. "Jack, I told you that I'm not interested in this investigating stuff. I'm just a writer who enjoys baking and cooking and quiet evenings at home. There's not much I can contribute to your team that you have yet to explain what exactly you do." Marsha greeted as soon as the handsome Jack Harkness fell in step with her as she started her journey home. She was starting to enjoy his company, or at least when he wasn't trying to recruit her to his team of investigators or whatever they were called at Torchwood.

"Oh come on." Jack said as he flashed her a dazzling smile. He took the bags of food from her hands and left her with just one; she was predictable when it came to shopping for food and this was not the first time Jack had carried her food for her, another reason why she enjoyed his company. "You're selling yourself short. Do I need to remind you how helpful you were during our investigation with Marcie?" Jack argued thoughtfully, without Marsha he had been stuck digging in all the wrong places for new leads. "Not only did you figure out what was missing in her personal belongings and what was damaged but you pulled an exceptional undercover story." He paused for a moment to watch as Marsha started shaking her head.

Jack chuckled to himself, he knew Marsha was a hard one to crack but one that would hopefully crack soon. "You did disarm and bang up Rex pretty good. You know, before he healed up." Jack added on with a laugh to himself. He still couldn't get over how Marsha had overlooked Rex's healing ability after that day, but then again a lot had happened the day they met Marsha.

This was beginning to be the same conversation the two had been having for the last three weeks. Every couple of days Jack would appear when Marsha was out and about to try to get her to join his team. Marsha had nearly accepted a week and a half ago just to get Jack to leave her alone, but then remembered that she would be working for him and his annoying badgering would probably still continue so really she was just holding out in hopes that he would give up on her. He was poking and prodding again, trying to get her to say yes but she wouldn't, she was determined to hold out until he went away. Marsha didn't know Jack or his team well enough nor did she know what they did beside wave their guns at people and drive a completely blacked out vehicle. She did know they investigated some weird things, but she was still left in the dark about what exactly those 'weird things' were. And then there was Gwen, she didn't particularly like Marsha and that much was very clear from what time they had spent together. As far as Marsha was concerned, she was of no help to Torchwood. She had just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right knowledge to help find Marcie.

"I'm not repeating what I've told you every other time, Jack. I still stand by what I said. Until you can tell me what you're wanting me to do, I can't consider it." Marsha spoke as they stopped at the edge of the street and waited for a car to pass before they crossed. She knew that Jack could remember her words from the other attempts at signing her up for team Torchwood but yet he still wasn't caving in and giving her any information. It was starting to annoy Marsha how much he was dancing around her in circles trying to get her on board like they were dancing, but yet he wasn't actually dancing _with_ her.

Jack wasn't too surprised of Marsha's response, it was predictable as it had been the last nine times he had asked her. He was however starting to grow impatient and a bit frustrated. The first week he had been asking Marsha to join his team was fun and interesting. Jack enjoyed their walks and conversation that weren't related to his mission of getting her to join; he found out a fair bit about Marsha, or at least the small amount she would share with him. In all the people Jack had worked with during his time at Torchwood, he had a feeling that he couldn't pinpoint that was making him work hard to get Marsha on his team. He wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

Last week, Jack had noticed, Marsha had been fairly quiet compared to the other visits he had made and he wondered if today was the day she would crack. "Aliens." Jack finally said as he watched Marsha step over a bad patch of the side walk. "That thing that you saw when we went to find Marcie, it was an alien from another galaxy." He continued. Jack peered at Marsha as they walked, trying to read her face and her mind.

Marsha couldn't deny the creature of a thing she had saw when they found Marcie. It was like nothing she had ever seen before and it was definitely something that someone just didn't think up, not with all the details and the slime. Whatever it was, it was dead and apparently locked away at Torchwood from what Jack had said. Still though, Marsha was unsure about the whole thing. "Right, alien. You going to try telling me that these eggs were produced from some alien cow on the seventh moon of a planet three galaxies away?" Marsha jabbed with annoyance. "Besides, how did it even get here, to Earth?" She asked, suddenly interested in what Jack's reply would entail.

Jack only laughed at her words. "Oh, twenty-first century humans." He said shaking his head with amusement. "There's a rift in time and space that allows for…things to occur and occasionally we get a visitor that falls through and ends up on our side." Jack explained. The concept was kind of farfetched for most people, but Jack felt that it was time to give some information to Marsha and see how she reacted. "Do you believe me, at all?" He asked, his face was now serious and was awaiting her response.

Marsha stopped and turned to face Jack. "The only thing that makes me even believe you just in the slightest way is that I had no clue what I was looking at when we found Marcie. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, that I could have identified that thing to be except something that my eyes have never landed on before anything like it." She paused and looked down at her feet for a few moments before she looked up at Jack in his eyes. "What is it you do with these aliens?" In Marsha's head there had been millions of questions in the last several weeks she wanted to ask Jack, this was probably one of the most important ones she wanted answers to before she agreed to anything.

Gritting his teeth Jack contemplated what he should say in response to her question. He could see from her eyes that she was curious but still apprehensive. "It depends on the situation." Was what Jack decided on saying to the woman. Marsha snorted in response before she turned around and started walking again. "That's not very professional." Jack called as he picked up his pace to reach Marsha again.

"Could you be any more cryptic?" She asked sarcastically. "Don't answer, because I have a feeling that you could and I'm not in the mood for it." They had reached the building Marsha lived in and she was hoping there was a way she could steal her items back from Jack without the conversation continuing.

"Why don't you come down to the hub and I can show you around and explain a bit?" He asked when they reached her door. To Jack, that sounded very reasonable considering what information he had shared and what Marsha had already seen. "Besides, even if you don't want work on investigations we could still use someone who can cook. I've been eating way too much take out. I'm afraid I'll lose my figure." Jack was now starting to talk more to himself than Marsha.

"No." Marsha declared as she took the bags from Jack and retreated into her flat. She came back to the open door where Jack was leaning and looked him straight in the eyes. "No." She said again. "And for the record, you're starting to become a stalker again, it'd be a pity if I had to report you." Marsha threatened.

Nodding his head he slowly backed away from the doorway. "Just think about it." He said in response, just another part of their little routine they had developed. Marsha shook her head, determined that she was going to get rid of Jack Harkness somehow. Slowly she shut the door, locked it and slid down to sit on the floor where she pulled her knees to her chest. She would think about it because there wasn't a way to get the images and all the questions out of her head.


	2. Another One Down

**A/N:** As I mentioned in the first chapter, this is the first time I've attempted to write anything related to Torchwood, so thanks for reading. I'd like to mention that the ending of this chapter might seem like I'm trying to Gwen bash, but I'm not. There's reasoning behind why I've made her like she is in this chapter.

This chapter was not beta read, I am human and therefore there are most likely several mistakes I've made and somehow overlooked them in my editing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Torchwood nor am I affiliated in any way with Torchwood or BBC. I am making no profit from this work; this is merely my attempt at using my imagination to creatively entertain.

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**Another One Down**

Just another day Marsha left her flat for her visit to Alice twenty minutes away where the two women would have a cup or two of tea and talk about the weather and Alice's family. The visit would last no longer than two hours and Marsha would begin her journey back home where she would resume her latest project and work for hours into the afternoon and early evening before going to bed early and begin the routine again. It was a very safe and normal routine. Today though was not going to be a normal day for Marsha.

Nearly a month ago Marsha had been interrogated by Captain Jack Harkness from some unknown organization they called Torchwood about the mysterious disappearance of Marcie, her friend and her neighbor. The near 48 hours Marsha had spent in Torchwood custody within her own home had been a bizarre event and made the late twenty year old woman feel like it had been years since the experience had occurred. With Jack visiting her every two or three days since she had released after the case was finished, Marsha couldn't help but realize her life would probably never go back to how it was before she met Jack. The thoughts that used to consume Marsha's head were vastly different than what she thought now as she climbed the stairs to Alice's home. She wasn't thinking of the unexplainable things she had seen when they attempted to rescue Marcie but of the possibilities of more unknown and potentially dangerous things that were roaming among them.

"Marsha, dear, you seem disconnected." Alice pointed out after she piled a few more cookies onto Marsha's plate. "Is everything alright, dear?" Marsha let her eyes skim over the contents of her plate before she let them rise to meet Alice's gentle and concerned eyes. There was no use in trying to explain what she had seen to the old woman nor of the thoughts and questions milling about in her head; Alice was set in her ways and wouldn't believe a word Marsha would say. Hell, Marsha wouldn't have believed a word of it had she been told what she had witnessed.

"Oh, it's nothing." Marsha smiled at the woman. "Just caught up in my thoughts, is all. Did you get any news of the grand child yet?" Marsha asked, she was an expert at yielding new questions for Alice to answer to successfully push the conversation away from Marsha's life. Alice started talking about the new grandchild on the way and how much she was looking forward to having a granddaughter finally. This then spurred the conversation about Alice's oldest child and only daughter.

With a full stomach Marsha felt the need to stretch her legs a bit. She stood from the table and walked over to the window where she peered out into the street. "How's your project coming along?" Alice had asked, genuinely interested in the latest attempt of Marsha's editing. Marsha had opened her mouth to respond but fell quiet when she saw what first looked like a human had darted from the alley into the street and was running at full speed. At first it looked like a human but there was something off about the head, like it was disfigured.

"Marsha, what is it?" Alice asked from the table. Alice's voice broke Marsha's concentration on the humanish looking creature and she returned to the table and assured Alice that it was nothing out of the ordinary. Marsha wasn't for sure what she had seen anyway and it fell into the category of things Alice wouldn't believe.

Half an hour later Alice was starting to getting tired and Marsha could tell that the old woman didn't want to have to make Marsha leave. She bade the woman farewell and used her project as an excuse to head to home a bit earlier than normal. Marsha however had no intention of actually going back to her flat even though the logical part of her brain was telling her that was the safest place she should be.

Knowing that Alice would be perched by the window to watch Marsha walk down the street until she was too far away to see anything, Marsha walked towards her flat for a good distance before she turned off into an alley. For someone who always stuck to the main streets and didn't do much off the beaten path exploration, Marsha was quick to find herself in the area she expected the creature she had sited earlier to be in. Carefully Marsha walked the alley and made sure that no one was following her. She realized after several minutes of walking that if someone, or something rather, got to her the chances of help arriving to her quickly were small. It didn't matter though because Marsha was determined to track down the creature despite all the red flashing warning signs in her head that told her to turn back.

"Over here! Another one down, too many to go." A voice called from around the corner up ahead. Marsha's heart was pounding and her feet picked up the pace when she realized the voice belonged to Jack. With the adrenaline rush she suddenly felt with hearing Jack's name the thoughts in her head were now focused on getting to Jack and hunting down the alien, because why else would Jack be in the area combing the alleys if it weren't alien?

Around the corner and several feet ahead, Marsha saw the back of Jack's long coat and the profile of another man that looked familiar, Rex. It was definitely Torchwood and Marsha knew she needed to help the men. "Jack, what can I do?" Marsha asked as she ran up beside him; the entire thing felt as if it was something she had been doing for weeks or months, normal it was not because it was an alien they were dealing with. It was then that she was close enough for the first time to see exactly what she had seen from a distance earlier.

Jack started laughing at Marsha's reaction. "Oh, you haven't seen one before have you?" He finally asked, amused. The man didn't know that Marsha would arrive to assist them on their weevil hunt but since she had he was enjoying the shocked state that Marsha was currently in. She slowly shook her head as she stared at the creature they had cornered. It was moving its head in a weird circular motion and emitting a weird growling sort of noise through fierce looking teeth that looked like they could easily tear someone's heart out in a split second. She stood there with her eyes narrowed at the creature and her mouth opened just a bit.

"Jack, we don't have time to laugh at Miss Benning." Rex concluded as he inched closer the weevil. He was ready to take it down and get it back to the hub before going out after another one; it was all that they had been doing that morning, they were wasting precious time in their weevil hunting.

Marsha finally found her voice. "What the hell is that?" She asked as she instinctively reached out and grabbed the back of Rex's shirt to pull him away from the creature. "You're nuts." She told him without letting her eyes stray from where she had let them stay. Jack started laughing again.

"It's a weevil. And it's about time we take him back to the hub." Jack said as he gently placed his hand on hers and pried her clenched fingers off of Rex's shirt. "Let's do this, Rex. Marsha, stand back over there." Jack ordered as he turned her around and pointed her over to a dumpster several feet away.

"About time." Rex smiled as he dug out a can from his pocket and tossed it to Marsha. "Just in case, spray it in the face. Do not let it get to you." He instructed with a voice that left no room for questioning or arguing, the voice Rex had used only once before with Marsha and she knew he meant his words.

Marsha caught the can but refused to move from her spot. "No. Go." Jack commanded firmly when he realized Marsha wanted to actively help. Rex had already turned to encounter the weevil and was focused on one task now.

"Oh, so you can stalk me for nearly a month and plead for me to join your secret organization that I know very little about only to not let me help when I do come around to the idea? Not a chance. Let me in on this." Marsha stood her ground. Who did Jack Harkness think he was? She wasn't about to let him make her sit on the sidelines.

Jack fired back quickly. "You don't know what it's capable of and you're not getting injured or killed on the first day of duty. Back it up!" He barked.

"Jack, now!" Rex called as the weevil started to run towards him. Marsha followed her commands finally when she saw Rex run at the Weevil and the final stages of the hunt began. Before she knew it, the men had moved quickly with a bond of communication that used no words and the Weevil was now limp from the use of the stun gun.

Marsha was standing off a ways from the scene and was slowly shaking her head at the entire thing. "Go out to the road and stop Gwen." Rex told Marsha. She didn't respond to the command except that she stopped shaking her head. If anything, Marsha was in a sort of trance as she replayed what she had just seen.

"Marsha, can you go to the road?" Jack asked her as he lifted the feet of the weevil and Rex took the head. Marsha looked at both men and then at the weevil and wondered what she had just gotten herself into. She nodded her head and suddenly her feet came unglued.

Marsha found the street with ease and just as she stepped out into the roadway, the black vehicle that the Torchwood team used turned onto the road. Marsha waved her arms in the air, signaling for Gwen to stop. "What are you doing here?" Gwen snapped as soon as she got out of the car. The fiery attitude she had been greeted with didn't surprise Marsha, especially not considering her last encounter with the woman when they were alone.

"Weevil." Marsha replied showing her the spray can Rex had given her. It was not a secret that Gwen was not in a good mood that Marsha was standing there before her, the woman hadn't done anything to hide it from anyone. Marsha contained the urge to say something cheeky to Gwen but decided against it since there was no telling what the woman would do now that Marsha was no longer in Torchwood custody. Clearly, Marsha wasn't expected to be here and Gwen was not happy.

Thankful that Rex and Jack showed up behind her carrying the weevil she followed them to the rear of the vehicle and helped them load the creature. "Come on." Jack said as he opened the back door for her before getting in behind the wheel. As soon as Marsha climbed in and shut the door they were moving and she could tell that Gwen was fuming next to her.

There was a brief moment of silence between all four people as Rex and Jack calmed themselves down, Marsha collected her thoughts and Gwen continued to fume. Surprising Marsha, Rex turned in his seat next to Jack to speak directly to her. "Okay, how did you end up in the alley?" He asked. The question was serious, Marsha knew that much, but she could tell by the sparkle in Rex's eyes that he was curious for her reply.

"Saw one of them not too far from here." She said simply as she handed the can back to Rex. She was still trying to figure out what part of her brain made her go on a solo hunt for what she now knew was a weevil. Chalking it up to her curiosity and adrenaline rush she just shrugged her shoulders at Rex's enquiring look and left her answer alone.

"Nope, you keep it. Clearly, if you've gone off to investigate a weevil you're going to need to keep it." Rex said as he put the can back into her hands and flashed her a smile. He had doubts when it came to the new Torchwood recruit. Though she had helped solve their case when it came to the weird rodent like aliens that had taken a fair amount of fatalities, Rex could see through the hard shell exterior Marsha had put up. There was something eating away in the mind of the woman and Rex wasn't for sure if it was healthy for her to be joining Torchwood in such a state. But then again, in his opinion you had to be nuts to willing work for Torchwood.

Gwen blew up at the exchange. "Really? You're just going to give her the okay to fight the weevils?" Her voice was loud and filled the vehicle. "Does she even know what they do, how they kill?" Gwen questioned with fury. Marsha cleared her throat and looked to her right out the window. Honestly, in Marsha's thought process she didn't care what Gwen thought. She had already been exposed to one alien life form, one that she knew was more dangerous than a weevil; she was tired of Gwen acting as if she were the only woman who could handle the alien thing.

"Knock it off, Gwen." Jack spoke into the rear view mirror where he could see Gwen huffing in the back seat.

"No! I'm not going to knock it off, Jack. You're not thinking about this and how bad this is going to end up." Gwen countered from the back. Marsha shifted slightly in the opposite seat and leaned her forehead against the window. "Just like everyone else." She added on an offhand voice.

Jack's knuckles were starting to turn white from gripping the steering wheel so tight. Had his eyes been a laser they would have seared through the mirror with the look he was giving Gwen at the moment. "We will talk about this in my office. Understood?" He spat angrily.

Gwen shook her head and looked at Marsha for a second or two before she looked out her own window. "You should have Retconed her." She spoke with fury in her voice.

Rex cleared his throat and shook his head several times, unable to believe exactly how much of a tantrum Gwen was throwing. He knew that Gwen didn't want Marsha to be a part of Torchwood but she hadn't exactly given a proper answer to why. For all Rex knew it could be jealousy since Jack had spent so much of his time devoted to recruiting Marsha. Whatever it was, Rex had resolved weeks ago that he wasn't going to get into this battle.


End file.
